Part Two

Out of Town Papers

Matt was out of sorts. Doc, Festus, Newly, and even Sam had all said as much to him, each in their own way, although they had all been careful to refrain from stating the reason. He had mostly avoided their company since Doc had finally given him his clothes back and released him from his care. He was getting tired of the way all four looked at him with varying mixtures of pity and reproach. They all knew the reason for his bad mood was that Kitty was gone, and they all, to a certain extent, blamed him for her leaving. If any of them had actually voiced that thought, he would have told them Kitty had made that decision herself. That she was a grown woman, he'd never told her what to do and he couldn't very well start now. In his heart, though, he knew he could have stopped her, if only he felt he had the right. Therefore, he had only himself to blame for Kitty leaving. He was, as Doc said, a dang fool, but there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it now.

He'd considered, once he was up and around, sending out some wires looking for her, but put that idea to rest almost instantly. She'd left of her own free will, she wasn't kidnapped or lost. Looking for her would just call attention to their relationship and jeopardize her safety. If it was widely believed they no longer meant anything to each other, it might decrease the chances that she could be used to get to him.

Having turned down Festus and Newly's invitation to meet at the Long Branch for coffee-he could barely bring himself to look at the place, much less go in-he made his own coffee for a change and savored several cups while he worked on the most pressing of his reports. That task completed, he poured a fresh cup and opened the top of a stack of recent newspapers, hardly bothering to check which one he had. Before he had read a word, he heard a soft scratching on the other side of the door and an insistent "mrow!"

Matt sighed and dropped his paper on the desk. Reluctantly, he got up to open the door, knowing that if he ignored it the cat would keep mewing like a nagging conscience. Without so much as a glance in his direction, the orange and white cat stalked purposefully through the door like he owned the place. The marshal returned to his desk and watched briefly as Pumpkin sniffed his way around the office, winding his way around the stove, the table and chairs in the middle of the room, and, finally, the cot Matt used when he spent the night at the jail. "Not you, too," he muttered and turned his attention back to the paper. Since Pumpkin never visited the office when Matt was there alone, and had never deigned to offer his services as a mouser, there could be only one reason he was searching the place. "She isn't here, boy," he said quietly, shaking his head.

Pumpkin stopped in front of the closed door that led to the jail cells and let out a long plaintive wail. "Listen, you, I guarantee you she's not back there!" Matt said, still keeping his voice down lest someone walk in and discover him attempting to reason with a cat. Pumpkin arched his back and howled, eyes narrowed and tail switching from side to side. Matt hoisted himself out of his chair again.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," he growled. He flung open the door and Pumpkin took his time examining the thankfully unoccupied cells. Finally satisfied that the person he sought wasn't locked up in back either, he made his way back out to the front and paced around restlessly, apparently waiting for her to appear.

Matt sat back at his desk and returned his attention to the paper and the article he had been reading about some grazing and water rights issues down south. He hadn't gotten far when in one graceful motion Pumpkin leapt into the desk. He sprawled out over the article Matt was trying to read and looked up at the big man accusingly. Matt gave a disgusted sigh.

"You, too, huh? All right, fine. I'll just go do my rounds and finish my reading later." As he braced his hands on the desk to stand, he saw the words "Kitty Russell" at his fingertips and forgot all about his rounds.

TBC